Canola cultivar NQC02CNX21

ABSTRACT

A canola cultivar designated NQC02CNX21 is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of canola cultivar NQC02CNX21, to the plants of canola NQC02CNX21, to plant parts of canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 and to methods for producing a canola plant produced by crossing canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 with itself or with another canola line. The invention also relates to methods for producing a canola plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic canola plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to canola cultivars or breeding cultivars and plant parts derived from canola cultivar NQC02CNX21, to methods for producing other canola cultivars, lines or plant parts derived from canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 and to the canola plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. The invention further relates to hybrid canola seeds, plants and plant parts produced by crossing the canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 with another canola cultivar.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/667,576, filed Apr. 4, 2005.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinctive canola cultivar,designated NQC02CNX21. All publications cited in this application areherein incorporated by reference.

Canola produces an oil that has the lowest saturated fat content of anyvegetable oil. Today, there is an increasing demand for this oil bydiet-conscious consumers.

Canola is a genetic variation of rapeseed developed by Canadian plantbreeders specifically for its nutritional qualities, particularly itslow level of saturated fat. In 1956 the nutritional aspects of rapeseedoil were questioned, especially concerning the high eicosenoic anderucic fatty acid contents. In the early 1960's, Canadian plant breedersisolated rapeseed plants with low eicosenoic and erucic acid contents.The Health and Welfare Department recommended conversion to theproduction of low erucic acid varieties of rapeseed. Industry respondedwith a voluntary agreement to limit erucic acid content to five percentin food products, effective Dec. 1, 1973.

In 1985, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recognized rapeseed andcanola as two different species based on their content and uses.Rapeseed oil is used in industry, while canola oil is used for humanconsumption. High erucic acid rapeseed (HEAR) oil contains 22-60 percenterucic acid, while low erucic acid rapeseed (LEAR) oil has less than 2percent erucic acid. Meal with less than 30 μmol/g glucosinolates isfrom canola. Livestock can safely eat canola meal, but highglucosinolate rapeseed meal should only be fed to cattle because it maycause thyroid problems in monogastric livestock.

Each canola plant produces yellow flowers that, in turn, produce podssimilar in shape to pea pods but about ⅕th the size. Within the pods aretiny round seeds that are crushed to obtain canola oil. Each seedcontains approximately 40 percent oil. The remainder of the seed isprocessed into canola meal, which is used as a high protein livestockfeed.

Because it is perceived as a “healthy” oil, its use has risen steadilyboth as a cooking oil and in processed foods. The consumption of canolaoil is expected to surpass corn and cottonseed oils, becoming secondonly to soybean oil. It is low in saturates, high in monounsaturates,and contains a high level of oleic acid. Many people prefer the lightcolor and mild taste of canola oil over olive oil, the other readilyavailable oil high in monounsaturates.

Rapeseed has been grown in India for more than 3000 years and in Europesince the 13th century. The 1950s saw the start of large scale rapeseedproduction in Europe. Total world rapeseed/canola production is morethan 22.5 million metric tons. Farmers in Canada began producing canolaoil in 1968. Early canola cultivars were known as single zero cultivarsbecause their oil contained 5 percent or less erucic acid, butglucosinolates were high. In 1974, the first licensed double zerocultivars (low erucic acid and low glucosinolates) were grown. Today allcanola cultivars are double zero cultivars. Canola has come to mean allrapeseed cultivars that produce oil with less than 2 percent erucic acidand meal with less than 30 μmol/g of glucosinolates.

Canola production uses small grain equipment, limiting the need forlarge investments in machinery. Planting costs of canola are similar tothose for winter wheat. The low investment costs and increasing consumerdemand for canola oil make it a good alternative crop.

There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirableplant germplasm. Plant breeding begins with the analysis and definitionof problems and weaknesses of the current germplasm, the establishmentof program goals, and the definition of specific breeding objectives.The next step is selection of germplasm that possess the traits to meetthe program goals. The goal is to combine in a single variety animproved combination of desirable traits from the parental germplasm.These important traits may include higher seed yield, resistance todiseases and insects, better stems and roots, tolerance to drought andheat, and better agronomic quality.

Choice of breeding or selection methods depends on the mode of plantreproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, and thetype of cultivar used commercially (e.g., F₁ hybrid cultivar, purelinecultivar, etc.). For highly heritable traits, a choice of superiorindividual plants evaluated at a single location will be effective,whereas for traits with low heritability, selection should be based onmean values obtained from replicated evaluations of families of relatedplants. Popular selection methods include pedigree selection, modifiedpedigree selection, mass selection, and recurrent selection.

The complexity of inheritance influences choice of the breeding method.Backcross breeding is used to transfer one or a few favorable genes fora highly heritable trait into a desirable cultivar. This approach hasbeen used extensively for breeding disease-resistant cultivars. Variousrecurrent selection techniques are used to improve quantitativelyinherited traits controlled by numerous genes. The use of recurrentselection in self-pollinating crops depends on the ease of pollination,the frequency of successful hybrids from each pollination, and thenumber of hybrid offspring from each successful cross.

Each breeding program should include a periodic, objective evaluation ofthe efficiency of the breeding procedure. Evaluation criteria varydepending on the goal and objectives, but should include gain fromselection per year based on comparisons to an appropriate standard,overall value of the advanced breeding lines, and number of successfulcultivars produced per unit of input (e.g., per year, per dollarexpended, etc.).

Promising advanced breeding lines are thoroughly tested and compared toappropriate standards in environments representative of the commercialtarget area(s) for three or more years. The best lines are candidatesfor new commercial cultivars; those still deficient in a few traits maybe used as parents to produce new populations for further selection.

These processes, which lead to the final step of marketing anddistribution, usually take from eight to twelve years from the time thefirst cross is made. Therefore, development of new cultivars is atime-consuming process that requires precise forward planning, efficientuse of resources, and a minimum of changes in direction.

A most difficult task is the identification of individuals that aregenetically superior, because for most traits the true genotypic valueis masked by other confounding plant traits or environmental factors.One method of identifying a superior plant is to observe its performancerelative to other experimental plants and to a widely grown standardcultivar. If a single observation is inconclusive, replicatedobservations provide a better estimate of its genetic worth.

The goal of plant breeding is to develop new, unique and superior canolacultivars and hybrids. The breeder initially selects and crosses two ormore parental lines, followed by repeated selfing and selection,producing many new genetic combinations. The breeder can theoreticallygenerate billions of different genetic combinations via crossing,selfing and mutations. The breeder has no direct control at the cellularlevel. Therefore, two breeders will never develop the same line, or evenvery similar lines, having the same canola traits.

Each year, the plant breeder selects the germplasm to advance to thenext generation. This germplasm is grown under unique and differentgeographical, climatic and soil conditions and further selections arethen made, during and at the end of the growing season. The cultivarswhich are developed are unpredictable. This unpredictability is becausethe breeder's selection occurs in unique environments, with no controlat the DNA level (using conventional breeding procedures), and withmillions of different possible genetic combinations being generated. Abreeder of ordinary skill in the art cannot predict the final resultinglines he develops, except possibly in a very gross and general fashion.The same breeder cannot produce the same cultivar twice by using theexact same original parents and the same selection techniques. Thisunpredictability results in the expenditure of large amounts of researchmonies to develop superior new canola cultivars.

The development of new canola cultivars requires the development andselection of canola varieties, the crossing of these varieties andselection of superior hybrid crosses. The hybrid seed is produced bymanual crosses between selected male-fertile parents or by using malesterility systems. These hybrids are selected for certain single genetraits such as pod color, flower color, pubescence color or herbicideresistance which indicate that the seed is truly a hybrid. Additionaldata on parental lines, as well as the phenotype of the hybrid,influence the breeder's decision whether to continue with the specifichybrid cross.

Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection breeding methods are used todevelop cultivars from breeding populations. Breeding programs combinedesirable traits from two or more cultivars or various broad-basedsources into breeding pools from which cultivars are developed byselfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new cultivars areevaluated to determine which have commercial potential.

Pedigree breeding is used commonly for the improvement ofself-pollinating crops. Two parents which possess favorable,complementary traits are crossed to produce an F₁. An F₂ population isproduced by selfing one or several F₁s. Selection of the bestindividuals may begin in the F₂ population; then, beginning in the F₃,the best individuals in the best families are selected. Replicatedtesting of families can begin in the F₄ generation to improve theeffectiveness of selection for traits with low heritability. At anadvanced stage of inbreeding (i.e., F₆ and F₇), the best lines ormixtures of phenotypically similar lines are tested for potentialrelease as new cultivars.

Mass and recurrent selections can be used to improve populations ofeither self- or cross-pollinating crops. A genetically variablepopulation of heterozygous individuals is either identified or createdby intercrossing several different parents. The best plants are selectedbased on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellentcombining ability. The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a newpopulation in which further cycles of selection are continued.

Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genes for a simplyinherited, highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivaror inbred line which is the recurrent parent. The source of the trait tobe transferred is called the donor parent. The resulting plant isexpected to have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., cultivar)and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent. After theinitial cross, individuals possessing the phenotype of the donor parentare selected and repeatedly crossed (backcrossed) to the recurrentparent. The resulting plant is expected to have the attributes of therecurrent parent (e.g., cultivar) and the desirable trait transferredfrom the donor parent.

The single-seed descent procedure in the strict sense refers to plantinga segregating population, harvesting a sample of one seed per plant, andusing the one-seed sample to plant the next generation. When thepopulation has been advanced from the F₂ to the desired level ofinbreeding, the plants from which lines are derived will each trace todifferent F₂ individuals. The number of plants in a population declineseach generation due to failure of some seeds to germinate or some plantsto produce at least one seed. As a result, not all of the F₂ plantsoriginally sampled in the population will be represented by a progenywhen generation advance is completed.

In a multiple-seed procedure, canola breeders commonly harvest one ormore pods from each plant in a population and thresh them together toform a bulk. Part of the bulk is used to plant the next generation andpart is put in reserve. The procedure has been referred to as modifiedsingle-seed descent or the pod-bulk technique.

The multiple-seed procedure has been used to save labor at harvest. Itis considerably faster to thresh pods with a machine than to remove oneseed from each by hand for the single-seed procedure. The multiple-seedprocedure also makes it possible to plant the same number of seeds of apopulation each generation of inbreeding. Enough seeds are harvested tomake up for those plants that did not germinate or produce seed.

In addition to phenotypic observations, the genotype of a plant can alsobe examined. There are many laboratory-based techniques available forthe analysis, comparison and characterization of plant genotype; amongthese are Isozyme Electrophoresis, Restriction Fragment LengthPolymorphisms (RFLPs), Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs),Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), DNA AmplificationFingerprinting (DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs),Amplified Fragment Length polymorphisms (AFLPs), Simple Sequence Repeats(SSRs—which are also referred to as Microsatellites), and SingleNucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs).

Isozyme Electrophoresis and RFLPs have been widely used to determinegenetic composition. Shoemaker and Olsen, (Molecular Linkage Map ofSoybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) p 6.131-6.138 in S. J. O'Brien (ed)Genetic Maps: Locus Maps of Complex Genomes, Cold Spring HarborLaboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., (1993)) developed amolecular genetic linkage map that consisted of 25 linkage groups withabout 365 RFLP, 11 RAPD, three classical markers and four isozyme loci.See also, Shoemaker, R. C., RFLP Map of Soybean, p 299-309, in Phillips,R. L. and Vasil, I. K., eds. DNA-Based Markers in Plants, KluwerAcademic Press, Dordrecht, the Netherlands (1994).

SSR technology is currently the most efficient and practical markertechnology; more marker loci can be routinely used and more alleles permarker locus can be found using SSRs in comparison to RFLPs. Forexample, Diwan and Cregan described a highly polymorphic microsatellitelocus with as many as 26 alleles. (Diwan, N. and Cregan, P. B., Theor.Appl. Genet. 95:22-225, 1997.) SNPs may also be used to identify theunique genetic composition of the invention and progeny varietiesretaining that unique genetic composition. Various molecular markertechniques may be used in combination to enhance overall resolution.

Molecular markers, which includes markers identified through the use oftechniques such as Isozyme Electrophoresis, RFLPs, RAPDs, AP-PCR, DAF,SCARs, AFLPs, SSRs, and SNPs, may be used in plant breeding. One use ofmolecular markers is Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) mapping. QTL mappingis the use of markers which are known to be closely linked to allelesthat have measurable effects on a quantitative trait. Selection in thebreeding process is based upon the accumulation of markers linked to thepositive effecting alleles and/or the elimination of the markers linkedto the negative effecting alleles from the plant's genome.

Molecular markers can also be used during the breeding process for theselection of qualitative traits. For example, markers closely linked toalleles or markers containing sequences within the actual alleles ofinterest can be used to select plants that contain the alleles ofinterest during a backcrossing breeding program. For example, molecularmarkers are used in soybean breeding for selection of the trait ofresistance to soybean cyst nematode, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,967. Themarkers can also be used to select toward the genome of the recurrentparent and against the markers of the donor parent. This procedureattempts to minimize the amount of genome from the donor parent thatremains in the selected plants. It can also be used to reduce the numberof crosses back to the recurrent parent needed in a backcrossingprogram. The use of molecular markers in the selection process is oftencalled genetic marker enhanced selection or marker-assisted selection.Molecular markers may also be used to identify and exclude certainsources of germplasm as parental varieties or ancestors of a plant byproviding a means of tracking genetic profiles through crosses.

Mutation breeding is another method of introducing new traits intocanola varieties. Mutations that occur spontaneously or are artificiallyinduced can be useful sources of variability for a plant breeder. Thegoal of artificial mutagenesis is to increase the rate of mutation for adesired characteristic. Mutation rates can be increased by manydifferent means including temperature, long-term seed storage, tissueculture conditions, radiation (such as X-rays, Gamma rays, neutrons,Beta radiation, or ultraviolet radiation), chemical mutagens (such asbase analogues like 5-bromo-uracil), antibiotics, alkylating agents(such as sulfur mustards, nitrogen mustards, epoxides, ethyleneamines,sulfates, sulfonates, sulfones, or lactones), azide, hydroxylamine,nitrous acid or acridines. Once a desired trait is observed throughmutagenesis the trait may then be incorporated into existing germplasmby traditional breeding techniques. Details of mutation breeding can befound in Principles of Cultivar Development by Fehr, MacmillanPublishing Company, 1993.

The production of double haploids can also be used for the developmentof homozygous varieties in a breeding program. Double haploids areproduced by the doubling of a set of chromosomes from a heterozygousplant to produce a completely homozygous individual. For example, seeWan et al., Theor. Appl. Genet., 77:889-892, 1989.

Descriptions of other breeding methods that are commonly used fordifferent traits and crops can be found in one of several referencebooks (e.g., Allard, 1960; Simmonds, 1979; Sneep et al., 1979; Fehr,1987).

Proper testing should detect any major faults and establish the level ofsuperiority or improvement over current cultivars. In addition toshowing superior performance, there must be a demand for a new cultivarthat is compatible with industry standards or which creates a newmarket. The introduction of a new cultivar will incur additional coststo the seed producer, the grower, processor and consumer; for specialadvertising and marketing, altered seed and commercial productionpractices, and new product utilization. The testing preceding release ofa new cultivar should take into consideration research and developmentcosts as well as technical superiority of the final cultivar. Forseed-propagated cultivars, it must be feasible to produce seed easilyand economically.

Canola, Brassica napus oleifera annua, is an important and valuablefield crop. Thus, a continuing goal of plant breeders is to developstable, high yielding canola cultivars that are agronomically sound. Thereasons for this goal are obviously to maximize the amount of grainproduced on the land used and to supply food for both animals andhumans. To accomplish this goal, the canola breeder must select anddevelop canola plants that have the traits that result in superiorcultivars.

The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations relatedtherewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Otherlimitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill inthe art upon a reading of the specification.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described inconjunction with systems, tools and methods which are meant to beexemplary and illustrative, not limiting in scope. In variousembodiments, one or more of the above-described problems have beenreduced or eliminated, while other embodiments are directed to otherimprovements.

According to the invention, there is provided a novel canola cultivardesignated NQC02CNX21. This invention thus relates to the seeds ofcanola cultivar NQC02CNX21, to the plants of canola NQC02CNX21, to plantparts of canola NQC02CNX21 and to methods for producing a canola plantproduced by crossing the canola NQC02CNX21 with itself or another canolaline, and the creation of variants by mutagenesis or transformation ofcanola NQC02CNX21.

Thus, any such methods using the canola variety NQC02CNX21 are part ofthis invention: selfing, backcrosses, hybrid production, crosses topopulations, and the like. All plants produced using canola varietyNQC02CNX21 as a parent are within the scope of this invention.Advantageously, the canola variety could be used in crosses with other,different, canola plants to produce first generation (F₁) canola hybridseeds and plants with superior characteristics.

In another aspect, the present invention provides for single or multiplegene converted plants of NQC02CNX21. The transferred gene(s) maypreferably be a dominant or recessive allele. Preferably, thetransferred gene(s) will confer such traits as herbicide resistance,insect resistance, resistance for bacterial, fungal, or viral disease,male fertility, male sterility, enhanced nutritional quality, andindustrial usage. The gene may be a naturally occurring canola gene or atransgene introduced through genetic engineering techniques.

In another aspect, the present invention provides regenerable cells foruse in tissue culture of canola plant NQC02CNX21. The tissue culturewill preferably be capable of regenerating plants having thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the foregoing canolaplant, and of regenerating plants having substantially the same genotypeas the foregoing canola plant. Preferably, the regenerable cells in suchtissue cultures will be embryos, protoplasts, meristematic cells,callus, pollen, leaves, anthers, roots, root tips, flowers, seeds, podsor stems. Still further, the present invention provides canola plantsregenerated from the tissue cultures of the invention.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method ofintroducing a desired trait into canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 wherein themethod comprises: crossing a NQC02CNX21 plant with a plant of anothercanola cultivar that comprises a desired trait to produce F₁ progenyplants, wherein the desired trait is selected from the group consistingof male sterility, herbicide resistance, insect resistance, andresistance to bacterial disease, fungal disease or viral disease;selecting one or more progeny plants that have the desired trait toproduce selected progeny plants; crossing the selected progeny plantswith the NQC02CNX21 plants to produce backcross progeny plants;selecting for backcross progeny plants that have the desired trait andphysiological and morphological characteristics of canola cultivarNQC02CNX21 to produce selected backcross progeny plants; and repeatingthese steps to produce selected first or higher backcross progeny plantsthat comprise the desired trait and all of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 as shown inTable 1. Included in this aspect of the invention is the plant producedby the method wherein the plant has the desired trait and all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of canola cultivarNQC02CNX21 as shown in Table 1.

In another aspect, the present invention comprises a canola cultivarcomprising imidazolinone resistance and oleic acid content of greaterthan 70%. Preferably the canola cultivar further comprises less than 3%linolenic acid. More preferably, the canola cultivar further comprisesblackleg (Leptosphaeria maculans) resistance.

In another aspect, the present invention comprises a canola hybridcomprising imidazolinone resistance and oleic acid content of greaterthan 70%. Preferably the canola hybrid further comprises less than 3%linolenic acid. More preferably, the canola hybrid further comprisesblackleg (Leptosphaeria maculans) resistance.

In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above,further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to thedrawings and by study of the following descriptions.

Definitions

In the description and tables which follow, a number of terms are used.In order to provide a clear and consistent understanding of thespecification and claims, including the scope to be given such terms,the following definitions are provided:

Allele. Allele is any of one or more alternative forms of a gene, all ofwhich relate to one trait or characteristic. In a diploid cell ororganism, the two alleles of a given gene occupy corresponding loci on apair of homologous chromosomes.

Anther arrangement. The orientation of the anthers in fully openedflowers can also be useful as an identifying trait. This can range fromintrose (facing inward toward pistil), erect (neither inward notoutward), or extrose (facing outward away from pistil).

Anther dotting. The presence/absence of anther dotting (colored spots onthe tips of anthers) and if present, the percentage of anther dotting onthe tips of anthers in newly opened flowers is also a distinguishingtrait for varieties.

Anther fertility. Anther fertility is a measure of the amount of pollenproduced on the anthers of a flower. It can range from sterile (such asin female parents used for hybrid seed production) to fertile (allanthers shedding).

Backcrossing. Backcrossing is a process in which a breeder repeatedlycrosses hybrid progeny back to one of the parents, for example, a firstgeneration hybrid F₁ with one of the parental genotypes of the F₁hybrid.

Blackleg. Resistance to blackleg (Leptosphaeria maculans) is measured ona scale of 1-5 where 1 is the most resistant and 5 is the leastresistant.

Check Average. Average for one or more checks in a given location.

Cotyledon width. The cotyledons are leaf structures that form in thedeveloping seeds of canola which make up the majority of the mature seedof these species. When the seed germinates, the cotyledons are pushedout of the soil by the growing hypocotyls (segment of the seedling stembelow the cotyledons and above the root) and they unfold as the firstphotosynthetic leafs of the plant. The width of the cotyledons varies byvariety and can be classified as narrow, medium, or wide.

Disease Resistance. As used herein, the term “disease resistance” isdefined as the ability of plants to restrict the activities of aspecified pest, such as an insect, fungus, virus, or bacterial.

Disease Tolerance. As used herein, the term “disease tolerance” isdefined as the ability of plants to endure a specified pest (such as aninsect, fungus, virus or bacteria) or an adverse environmental conditionand still perform and produce in spite of this disorder.

Elite canola cultivar. A canola cultivar, per se, which has been soldcommercially.

Elite canola parent cultivar. A canola cultivar which is the parentcultivar of a canola hybrid that has been commercially sold.

Embryo. The embryo is the small plant contained within a mature seed.

FAME analysis. Fatty Acid Methyl Ester analysis is a method that allowsfor accurate quantification of the fatty acids that make up complexlipid classes.

Flower bud location. The location of the unopened flower buds relativeto the adjacent opened flowers is useful in distinguishing between thecanola species. The unopened buds are held above the most recentlyopened flowers in B. napus and they are positioned below the mostrecently opened flower buds in B. rapa.

Flowering date. Flowering date is measured by the number of days fromplanting to the stage when 50% of the plants in a population have one ormore open flowers. This varies from variety to variety.

Glucosinolates. Glucosinolates are measured in micromoles (μm) of totalalipathic glucosinolates per gram of air-dried oil-free meal. The levelof glucosinolates is somewhat influenced by the sulfur fertility of thesoil, but is also controlled by the genetic makeup of each variety andthus can be useful in characterizing varieties.

Growth habit. At the end of flowering, the angle relative to the groundsurface of the outermost fully expanded leaf petioles is a varietyspecific trait. This trait can range from erect (very upright along thestem) to prostrate (almost horizontal and parallel with the groundsurface).

Imidazolinone resistance (1 ml). Resistance and/or tolerance isconferred by one or more genes which alter acetolactate synthase (ALS),also known as acetohydroxy acid synthase (AHAS) allowing the enzyme toresist the action of imidazolinone.

Leaf attachment to the stem. The leaf attachment to the stem trait isespecially useful for distinguishing between the two canola species. Thebase of the leaf blade of the upper stem leaves of B. rapa completelyclasp the stem whereas those of the B. napus only partially clasp thestem. Those of the mustard species do not clasp the stem at all.

Leaf blade color. The color of the leaf blades is variety specific andcan range from light to medium dark green to blue green.

Leaf development of lobes. The leaves on the upper portion of the stemcan show varying degrees of development of lobes which are disconnectedfrom one another along the petiole of the leaf. The degree of lobing isvariety specific and can range from absent (no lobes)/weak through verystrong (abundant lobes).

Leaf glaucosity. Leaf glaucosity refers to the waxiness of the leavesand is characteristic of specific varieties although environment canhave some effect on the degree of waxiness. This trait can range fromabsent (no waxiness)/weak through very strong. The degree of waxinesscan be best determined by rubbing the leaf surface and noting the degreeof wax present.

Leaf indentation of margin. The leaves on the upper portion of the stemcan also show varying degrees of serration along the leaf margins. Thedegree of serration or indentation of the leaf margins can vary fromabsent (smooth margin)/weak to strong (heavy saw-tooth like margin).

Leaf pubescence. The leaf pubescence is the degree of hairiness of theleaf surface and is especially useful for distinguishing between thecanola species. There are two main classes of pubescence which areglabrous (smooth/not hairy) and pubescent (hairy) which mainlydifferentiate between the B. napus and B. rapa species, respectively.

Leaf surface. The leaf surface can also be used to distinguish betweenvarieties. The surface can be smooth or rugose (lumpy) with varyingdegrees between the two extremes.

Maturity. The maturity of a variety is measured as the number of daysbetween planting and physiological maturity. This is useful trait indistinguishing varieties relative to one another.

Mean Yield. Mean yield of all canola entries grown at a given location.

Oil content. Oil content is measured as percent of the whole dried seedand is characteristic of different varieties. It can be determined usingvarious analytical techniques such as NMR, NIR, and Soxhlet extraction.

Oil percent D.B. Oil content expressed as a weight percent corrected formoisture.

Percent linolenic acid. Percent oil of the seed that is linolenic acid.

Percent oleic acid (OLE). Percent oil of the seed that is oleic acid.

Percentage of total fatty acids. The percentage of total fatty acids isdetermined by extracting a sample of oil from seed, producing the methylesters of fatty acids present in that oil sample and analyzing theproportions of the various fatty acids in the sample using gaschromatography. The fatty acid composition can also be a distinguishingcharacteristic of a variety.

Petal color. The petal color on the first day a flower opens can be adistinguishing characteristic for a variety. It can be white, varyingshades of yellow or orange.

Plant height. Plant height is the height of the plant at the end offlowering if the floral branches are extended upright (i.e., notlodged). This varies from variety to variety and although it can beinfluenced by environment, relative comparisons between varieties grownside by side are useful for variety identification.

Protein content. Protein content is measured as percent of whole driedseed and is characteristic of different varieties. This can bedetermined using various analytical techniques such as NIR and Kjeldahl.

Resistance to lodging. Resistance to lodging measures the ability of avariety to stand up in the field under high yield conditions and severeenvironmental factors. A variety can have good (remain upright), fair,or poor (falls over) resistance to lodging. The degree of resistance tolodging is not expressed under all conditions but is most meaningfulwhen there is some degree of lodging in a field trial.

Seed coat color. The color of the seed coat can be variety specific andcan range from black through brown through yellow. Color can also bemixed for some varieties.

Seed coat mucilage. Seed coat mucilage is useful for differentiatingbetween the two species of canola with B. rapa varieties having mucilagepresent in their seed coats whereas B. napus varieties do not have thispresent. It is detected by imbibing seeds with water and monitoring themucilage that is exuded by the seed.

Seedling growth habit. The rosette consists of the first 2-8 true leavesand a variety can be characterized as having a strong rosette (closelypacked leaves) or a weak rosette (loosely arranged leaves).

Silique (pod) habit. Silique habit is a trait which is variety specificand is a measure of the orientation of the pods along the racemes(flowering stems). This trait can range from erect (pods angled close toracemes) through horizontal (pods perpendicular to racemes) througharching (pods show distinct arching habit).

Silique (pod) length of beak. The beak is the segment at the end of thepod which does not contain seed (it is a remnant of the stigma and stylefor the flower). The length of the beak can be variety specific and canrange form short through medium through long.

Silique (pod) length of pedicel. The pedicel is the stem that attachesthe pod to the raceme of flowering shoot. The length of the pedicel canbe variety specific and can vary from short through medium through long.

Silique (pod) length. Silique length is the length of the fullydeveloped pods and can range from short to medium to long. It is bestused by making comparisons relative to reference varieties.

Silique (pod) type. The silique type is typically a bilateral single podfor both species of canola and is not really useful for varietyidentification within these species.

Silique (pod) width. Silique width is the width of the fully developedpods and can range from narrow to medium to wide. It is best used bymaking comparisons relative to reference varieties.

Single Gene Converted (Conversion). Single gene converted (conversion)plant refers to plants which are developed by a plant breeding techniquecalled backcrossing wherein essentially all of the desired morphologicaland physiological characteristics of a variety are recovered in additionto the single gene transferred into the variety via the backcrossingtechnique or via genetic engineering.

Stem intensity of anthocyanin coloration. The stems and other organs ofcanola plants can have varying degrees of purple coloration which is dueto the presence of anthocyanin (purple) pigments. The degree ofcoloration is somewhat subject to growing conditions, but varietiestypically show varying degrees of coloration ranging from: absent (nopurple)/very weak to very strong (deep purple coloration).

Total Saturated (TOTSAT). Total percent oil of the seed of the saturatedfats in the oil including C12:0, C14:0, C16:0, C18:0, C20:0, C22:0 andC24.0.

Yield. Greater than 10% above the mean yield across 10 or morelocations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

NQC02CNX21 was developed from the cross of 45A71/Nex 705//Nex 705///Nex715 through traditional plant breeding and the dihaploid methodology.Canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 is stable and uniform after four generationsfollowing dihaploid production and chromosome doubling and no off-typeplants have been exhibited in evaluation.

NQC02CNX21 is a high oleic, low linolenic acid canola line that isresistant to blackleg and white rust. Additionally, NQC02CNX21 has genesconferring tolerance to the Imidazolinone family of herbicides.

Some of the criteria used to select in various generations include: seedyield, lodging resistance, emergence, disease tolerance, maturity, lateseason plant intactness, plant height and shattering resistance.

The cultivar has shown uniformity and stability, as described in thefollowing variety description information. It has been self-pollinated asufficient number of generations with careful attention to uniformity ofplant type. The line has been increased with continued observation foruniformity.

Canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 has the following morphologic and othercharacteristics based primarily on data collected in the WesternCanadian provinces and in Indianapolis, Ind. TABLE 1 VARIETY DESCRIPTIONINFORMATION Days to Flower: 47.7 Days to Maturity: 94.6 Height: 110 cmLodging Resistance: 1.9 Yield, Long Season Zone: 2535 kg/ha Yield,Mid-Season Zone: 2561 kg/ha Oil: 45.3% D.B. Protein: 48.7% meal Totalglucosinolates: 9.4 μm/g seed at 8.5% moisture Chlorophyll: 18.9 mg/kgat 8.5% moisture Oil Profile, FAME analysis: C12:0: 0.01 C14:0: 0.05C16:0: 3.63 C16:1: 0.25 C18:0: 1.31 C18:1: 72.21 C18:2: 17.98 C18:3:1.78 C20:0: 0.49 C20:1: 1.55 C20:2: 0.08 C22:0: 0.31 C24:0: 0.13 C24:1:0.24 Total Saturated Fatty Acid: 5.92 Disease Reactions: Blackleg(Leptosphaeria maculans): Resistant White Rust (Albugo candida):Resistant Herbicide Reactions: Imidazolinones - Resistant

This invention is also directed to methods for producing a canola plantby crossing a first parent canola plant with a second parent canolaplant, wherein the first or second canola plant is the canola plant fromthe line NQC02CNX21. Further, both first and second parent canola plantsmay be from the cultivar NQC02CNX21. Therefore, any methods using thecultivar NQC02CNX21 are part of this invention: selfing, backcrosses,hybrid breeding, and crosses to populations. Any plants produced usingcultivar NQC02CNX21 as a parent are within the scope of this invention.

Useful methods include but are not limited to expression vectorsintroduced into plant tissues using a direct gene transfer method suchas microprojectile-mediated delivery, DNA injection, electroporation andthe like. More preferably expression vectors are introduced into planttissues using the microprojectile media delivery with the biolisticdevice and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Transformant plantsobtained with the protoplasm of the invention are intended to be withinthe scope of this invention.

Further Embodiments of the Invention

With the advent of molecular biological techniques that have allowed theisolation and characterization of genes that encode specific proteinproducts, scientists in the field of plant biology developed a stronginterest in engineering the genome of plants to contain and expressforeign genes, or additional, or modified versions of native, orendogenous, genes (perhaps driven by different promoters) in order toalter the traits of a plant in a specific manner. Such foreignadditional and/or modified genes are referred to herein collectively as“transgenes”. Over the last fifteen to twenty years several methods forproducing transgenic plants have been developed, and the presentinvention, in particular embodiments, also relates to transformedversions of the claimed variety or line.

Plant transformation involves the construction of an expression vectorwhich will function in plant cells. Such a vector comprises DNAcomprising a gene under control of or operatively linked to a regulatoryelement (for example, a promoter). The expression vector may contain oneor more such operably linked gene/regulatory element combinations. Thevector(s) may be in the form of a plasmid, and can be used alone or incombination with other plasmids, to provide transformed canola plants,using transformation methods as described below to incorporatetransgenes into the genetic material of the canola plant(s).

Expression Vectors for Canola Transformation: Marker Genes

Expression vectors include at least one genetic marker, operably linkedto a regulatory element (a promoter, for example) that allowstransformed cells containing the marker to be either recovered bynegative selection, i.e., inhibiting growth of cells that do not containthe selectable marker gene, or by positive selection, i.e., screeningfor the product encoded by the genetic marker. Many commonly usedselectable marker genes for plant transformation are well known in thetransformation arts, and include, for example, genes that code forenzymes that metabolically detoxify a selective chemical agent which maybe an antibiotic or a herbicide, or genes that encode an altered targetwhich is insensitive to the inhibitor. A few positive selection methodsare also known in the art.

One commonly used selectable marker gene for plant transformation is theneomycin phosphotransferase II (nptII) gene, which when under thecontrol of plant regulatory signals confers resistance to kanamycin.Fraley et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 80:4803 (1983). Anothercommonly used selectable marker gene is the hygromycinphosphotransferase gene which confers resistance to the antibiotichygromycin. Vanden Elzen et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 5:299 (1985).

Additional selectable marker genes of bacterial origin that conferresistance to antibiotics include gentamycin acetyl transferase,streptomycin phosphotransferase, aminoglycoside-3′-adenyl transferaseand the bleomycin resistance determinant. Hayford et al., Plant Physiol.86:1216 (1988), Jones et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 210:86 (1987), Svab etal., Plant Mol. Biol. 14:197 (1990) Hille et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 7:171(1986). Other selectable marker genes confer resistance to herbicidessuch as glyphosate, glufosinate or bromoxynil. Comai et al., Nature317:741-744 (1985), Gordon-Kamm et al., Plant Cell 2:603-618 (1990) andStalker et al., Science 242:419-423 (1988).

Selectable marker genes for plant transformation not of bacterial origininclude, for example, mouse dihydrofolate reductase, plant5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase and plant acetolactatesynthase. Eichholtz et al., Somatic Cell Mol. Genet. 13:67 (1987), Shahet al., Science 233:478 (1986), Charest et al., Plant Cell Rep. 8:643(1990).

Another class of marker genes for plant transformation requiresscreening of presumptively transformed plant cells rather than directgenetic selection of transformed cells for resistance to a toxicsubstance such as an antibiotic. These genes are particularly useful toquantify or visualize the spatial pattern of expression of a gene inspecific tissues and are frequently referred to as reporter genesbecause they can be fused to a gene or gene regulatory sequence for theinvestigation of gene expression. Commonly used genes for screeningpresumptively transformed cells include β-glucuronidase (GUS),β-galactosidase, luciferase and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase.Jefferson, R. A., Plant Mol. Biol. Rep. 5:387 (1987), Teeri et al., EMBOJ. 8:343 (1989), Koncz et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci U.S.A. 84:131(1987), DeBlock et al., EMBO J. 3:1681 (1984).

In vivo methods for visualizing GUS activity that do not requiredestruction of plant tissue are available. Molecular Probes publication2908, IMAGENE GREEN, p. 1-4 (1993) and Naleway et al., J. Cell Biol.115:151a (1991). However, these in vivo methods for visualizing GUSactivity have not proven useful for recovery of transformed cellsbecause of low sensitivity, high fluorescent backgrounds and limitationsassociated with the use of luciferase genes as selectable markers.

More recently, a gene encoding Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) has beenutilized as a marker for gene expression in prokaryotic and eukaryoticcells. Chalfie et al., Science 263:802 (1994). GFP and mutants of GFPmay be used as selectable markers.

Expression Vectors for Canola Transformation: Promoters

Genes included in expression vectors must be driven by a nucleotidesequence comprising a regulatory element, for example, a promoter.Several types of promoters are now well known in the transformationarts, as are other regulatory elements that can be used alone or incombination with promoters.

As used herein, “promoter” includes reference to a region of DNAupstream from the start of transcription and involved in recognition andbinding of RNA polymerase and other proteins to initiate transcription.A “plant promoter” is a promoter capable of initiating transcription inplant cells. Examples of promoters under developmental control includepromoters that preferentially initiate transcription in certain tissues,such as leaves, roots, seeds, fibers, xylem vessels, tracheids, orsclerenchyma. Such promoters are referred to as “tissue-preferred”.Promoters which initiate transcription only in certain tissues arereferred to as “tissue-specific”. A “cell type” specific promoterprimarily drives expression in certain cell types in one or more organs,for example, vascular cells in roots or leaves. An “inducible” promoteris a promoter which is under environmental control. Examples ofenvironmental conditions that may effect transcription by induciblepromoters include anaerobic conditions or the presence of light.Tissue-specific, tissue-preferred, cell type specific, and induciblepromoters constitute the class of “non-constitutive” promoters. A“constitutive” promoter is a promoter which is active under mostenvironmental conditions.

A. Inducible Promoters—An inducible promoter is operably linked to agene for expression in canola. Optionally, the inducible promoter isoperably linked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequencewhich is operably linked to a gene for expression in canola. With aninducible promoter the rate of transcription increases in response to aninducing agent.

Any inducible promoter can be used in the instant invention. See Ward etal., Plant Mol. Biol. 22:361-366 (1993). Exemplary inducible promotersinclude, but are not limited to, that from the ACEI system whichresponds to copper (Mett et al., PNAS 90:4567-4571 (1993)); In2 genefrom maize which responds to benzenesulfonamide herbicide safeners(Hershey et al., Mol. Gen Genetics 227:229-237 (1991) and Gatz et al.,Mol. Gen. Genetics 243:32-38 (1994)) or Tet repressor from Tn10 (Gatz etal., Mol. Gen. Genetics 227:229-237 (1991)). A particularly preferredinducible promoter is a promoter that responds to an inducing agent towhich plants do not normally respond. An exemplary inducible promoter isthe inducible promoter from a steroid hormone gene, the transcriptionalactivity of which is induced by a glucocorticosteroid hormone. Schena etal., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 88:0421 (1991).

B. Constitutive Promoters—A constitutive promoter is operably linked toa gene for expression in canola or the constitutive promoter is operablylinked to a nucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequence which isoperably linked to a gene for expression in canola.

Many different constitutive promoters can be utilized in the instantinvention. Exemplary constitutive promoters include, but are not limitedto, the promoters from plant viruses such as the 35S promoter from CaMV(Odell et al., Nature 313:810-812 (1985)) and the promoters from suchgenes as rice actin (McElroy et al., Plant Cell 2:163-171 (1990));ubiquitin (Christensen et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 12:619-632 (1989) andChristensen et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 18:675-689 (1992)); pEMU (Last etal., Theor. Appl. Genet. 81:581-588 (1991)); MAS (Velten et al., EMBO J.3:2723-2730 (1984)) and maize H3 histone (Lepetit et al., Mol. Gen.Genetics 231:276-285 (1992) and Atanassova et al., Plant Journal 2 (3):291-300 (1992)). The ALS promoter, Xba1/NcoI fragment 5′ to the Brassicanapus ALS3 structural gene (or a nucleotide sequence similarity to saidXba1/NcoI fragment), represents a particularly useful constitutivepromoter. See PCT application WO 96/30530.

C. Tissue-specific or Tissue-preferred Promoters—A tissue-specificpromoter is operably linked to a gene for expression in canola.Optionally, the tissue-specific promoter is operably linked to anucleotide sequence encoding a signal sequence which is operably linkedto a gene for expression in canola. Plants transformed with a gene ofinterest operably linked to a tissue-specific promoter produce theprotein product of the transgene exclusively, or preferentially, in aspecific tissue.

Any tissue-specific or tissue-preferred promoter can be utilized in theinstant invention. Exemplary tissue-specific or tissue-preferredpromoters include, but are not limited to, a root-preferredpromoter—such as that from the phaseolin gene (Murai et al., Science23:476-482 (1983) and Sengupta-Gopalan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.U.S.A. 82:3320-3324 (1985)); a leaf-specific and light-induced promotersuch as that from cab or rubisco (Simpson et al., EMBO J.4(11):2723-2729 (1985) and Timko et al., Nature 318:579-582 (1985)); ananther-specific promoter such as that from LAT52 (Twell et al., Mol.Gen. Genetics 217:240-245 (1989)); a pollen-specific promoter such asthat from Zm13 (Guerrero et al., Mol. Gen. Genetics 244:161-168 (1993))or a microspore-preferred promoter such as that from apg (Twell et al.,Sex. Plant Reprod. 6:217-224 (1993)).

Signal Sequences for Targeting Proteins to Subcellular Compartments

Transport of protein produced by transgenes to a subcellular compartmentsuch as the chloroplast, vacuole, peroxisome, glyoxysome, cell wall ormitochondrion or for secretion into the apoplast, is accomplished bymeans of operably linking the nucleotide sequence encoding a signalsequence to the 5′ and/or 3′ region of a gene encoding the protein ofinterest. Targeting sequences at the 5′ and/or 3′ end of the structuralgene may determine, during protein synthesis and processing, where theencoded protein is ultimately compartmentalized.

The presence of a signal sequence directs a polypeptide to either anintracellular organelle or subcellular compartment or for secretion tothe apoplast. Many signal sequences are known in the art. See, forexample Becker et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 20:49 (1992); Close, P. S.,Master's Thesis, Iowa State University (1993); Knox, C., et al., PlantMol. Biol. 9:3-17 (1987); Lerner et al., Plant Physiol. 91:124-129(1989); Fontes et al., Plant Cell 3:483-496 (1991); Matsuoka et al.,Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 88:834 (1991); Gould et al., J. Cell. Biol.108:1657 (1989); Creissen et al., Plant J. 2:129 (1991); Kalderon, etal., Cell 39:499-509 (1984); Steifel, et al., Plant Cell 2:785-793(1990).

Foreign Protein Genes and Agronomic Genes

With transgenic plants according to the present invention, a foreignprotein can be produced in commercial quantities. Thus, techniques forthe selection and propagation of transformed plants, which are wellunderstood in the art, yield a plurality of transgenic plants which areharvested in a conventional manner, and a foreign protein then can beextracted from a tissue of interest or from total biomass. Proteinextraction from plant biomass can be accomplished by known methods whichare discussed, for example, by Heney and Orr, Anal. Biochem. 114:92-6(1981).

According to a preferred embodiment, the transgenic plant provided forcommercial production of foreign protein is a canola plant. In anotherpreferred embodiment, the biomass of interest is seed. For therelatively small number of transgenic plants that show higher levels ofexpression, a genetic map can be generated, primarily via conventionalRFLP, PCR and SSR analysis, which identifies the approximate chromosomallocation of the integrated DNA molecule. For exemplary methodologies inthis regard, see Glick and Thompson, Methods in Plant Molecular Biologyand Biotechnology, CRC Press, Boca Raton 269:284 (1993). Map informationconcerning chromosomal location is useful for proprietary protection ofa subject transgenic plant. If unauthorized propagation is undertakenand crosses made with other germplasm, the map of the integration regioncan be compared to similar maps for suspect plants, to determine if thelatter have a common parentage with the subject plant. Map comparisonswould involve hybridizations, RFLP, PCR, SSR and sequencing, all ofwhich are conventional techniques.

Likewise, by means of the present invention, agronomic genes can beexpressed in transformed plants. More particularly, plants can begenetically engineered to express various phenotypes of agronomicinterest. Exemplary genes implicated in this regard include, but are notlimited to, those categorized below:

1. Genes That Confer Resistance to Pests or Disease and That Encode:

A. Plant disease resistance genes. Plant defenses are often activated byspecific interaction between the product of a disease resistance gene(R) in the plant and the product of a corresponding avirulence (Avr)gene in the pathogen. A plant variety can be transformed with clonedresistance gene to engineer plants that are resistant to specificpathogen strains. See, for example Jones et al., Science 266:789 (1994)(cloning of the tomato Cf-9 gene for resistance to Cladosporium fulvum);Martin et al., Science 262:1432 (1993) (tomato Pto gene for resistanceto Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato encodes a protein kinase); Mindrinoset al., Cell 78:1089 (1994) (Arabidopsis RSP2 gene for resistance toPseudomonas syringae).

B. A gene conferring resistance to a pest, such as soybean cystnematode. See e.g., PCT Application WO 96/30517; PCT Application WO93/19181.

C. A Bacillus thuringiensis protein, a derivative thereof or a syntheticpolypeptide modeled thereon. See, for example, Geiser et al., Gene48:109 (1986), who disclose the cloning and nucleotide sequence of a Btδ-endotoxin gene. Moreover, DNA molecules encoding δ-endotoxin genes canbe purchased from American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Va., forexample, under ATCC Accession Nos. 40098, 67136, 31995 and 31998.

D. A lectin. See, for example, the disclosure by Van Damme et al., PlantMolec. Biol. 24:25 (1994), who disclose the nucleotide sequences ofseveral Clivia miniata mannose-binding lectin genes.

E. A vitamin-binding protein such as avidin. See PCT application US93/06487. The application teaches the use of avidin and avidinhomologues as larvicides against insect pests.

F. An enzyme inhibitor, for example, a protease or proteinase inhibitoror an amylase inhibitor. See, for example, Abe et al., J. Biol. Chem.262:16793 (1987) (nucleotide sequence of rice cysteine proteinaseinhibitor), Huub et al., Plant Molec. Biol. 21:985 (1993) (nucleotidesequence of cDNA encoding tobacco proteinase inhibitor 1), Sumitani etal., Biosci. Biotech. Biochem. 57:1243 (1993) (nucleotide sequence ofStreptomyces nitrosporeus α-amylase inhibitor) and U.S. Pat. No.5,494,813 (Hepher and Atkinson, issued Feb. 27, 1996).

G. An insect-specific hormone or pheromone such as an ecdysteroid orjuvenile hormone, a variant thereof, a mimetic based thereon, or anantagonist or agonist thereof. See, for example, the disclosure byHammock et al., Nature 344:458 (1990), of baculovirus expression ofcloned juvenile hormone esterase, an inactivator of juvenile hormone.

H. An insect-specific peptide or neuropeptide which, upon expression,disrupts the physiology of the affected pest. For example, see thedisclosures of Regan, J. Biol. Chem. 269:9 (1994) (expression cloningyields DNA coding for insect diuretic hormone receptor), and Pratt etal., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 163:1243 (1989) (an allostatin isidentified in Diploptera puntata). See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,317 toTomalski et al., who disclose genes encoding insect-specific, paralyticneurotoxins.

I. An insect-specific venom produced in nature by a snake, a wasp, etc.For example, see Pang et al., Gene 116:165 (1992), for disclosure ofheterologous expression in plants of a gene coding for a scorpioninsectotoxic peptide.

J. An enzyme responsible for a hyperaccumulation of a monoterpene, asesquiterpene, a steroid, hydroxamic acid, a phenylpropanoid derivativeor another non-protein molecule with insecticidal activity.

K. An enzyme involved in the modification, including thepost-translational modification, of a biologically active molecule; forexample, a glycolytic enzyme, a proteolytic enzyme, a lipolytic enzyme,a nuclease, a cyclase, a transaminase, an esterase, a hydrolase, aphosphatase, a kinase, a phosphorylase, a polymerase, an elastase, achitinase and a glucanase, whether natural or synthetic. See PCTapplication WO 93/02197 in the name of Scott et al., which discloses thenucleotide sequence of a callase gene. DNA molecules which containchitinase-encoding sequences can be obtained, for example, from the ATCCunder Accession Nos. 39637 and 67152. See also Kramer et al., InsectBiochem. Molec. Biol. 23:691 (1993), who teach the nucleotide sequenceof a cDNA encoding tobacco hornworm chitinase, and Kawalleck et al.,Plant Molec. Biol. 21:673 (1993), who provide the nucleotide sequence ofthe parsley ubi4-2 polyubiquitin gene.

L. A molecule that stimulates signal transduction. For example, see thedisclosure by Botella et al., Plant Molec. Biol. 24:757 (1994), ofnucleotide sequences for mung bean calmodulin cDNA clones, and Griess etal., Plant Physiol. 104:1467 (1994), who provide the nucleotide sequenceof a maize calmodulin cDNA clone.

M. A hydrophobic moment peptide. See PCT application WO 95/16776(disclosure of peptide derivatives of Tachyplesin which inhibit fungalplant pathogens) and PCT application WO 95/18855 (teaches syntheticantimicrobial peptides that confer disease resistance).

N. A membrane permease, a channel former or a channel blocker. Forexample, see the disclosure of Jaynes et al., Plant Sci 89:43 (1993), ofheterologous expression of a cecropin-β, lytic peptide analog to rendertransgenic tobacco plants resistant to Pseudomonas solanacearum.

O. A viral-invasive protein or a complex toxin derived therefrom. Forexample, the accumulation of viral coat proteins in transformed plantcells imparts resistance to viral infection and/or disease developmenteffected by the virus from which the coat protein gene is derived, aswell as by related viruses. See Beachy et al., Ann. rev. Phytopathol.28:451 (1990). Coat protein-mediated resistance has been conferred upontransformed plants against alfalfa mosaic virus, cucumber mosaic virus,tobacco streak virus, potato virus X, potato virus Y, tobacco etchvirus, tobacco rattle virus and tobacco mosaic virus. Id.

P. An insect-specific antibody or an immunotoxin derived therefrom.Thus, an antibody targeted to a critical metabolic function in theinsect gut would inactivate an affected enzyme, killing the insect. Seealso Taylor et al., Abstract #497, Seventh Int'l Symposium on MolecularPlant-Microbe Interactions (Edinburgh, Scotland) (1994) (enzymaticinactivation in transgenic tobacco via production of single-chainantibody fragments).

Q. A virus-specific antibody. See, for example, Tavladoraki et al.,Nature 366:469 (1993), who show that transgenic plants expressingrecombinant antibody genes are protected from virus attack.

R. A developmental-arrestive protein produced in nature by a pathogen ora parasite. Thus, fungal endo α-1,4-D-polygalacturonases facilitatefungal colonization and plant nutrient release by solubilizing plantcell wall homo-α-1,4-D-galacturonase. See Lamb et al., Bio/Technology10:1436 (1992). The cloning and characterization of a gene which encodesa bean endopolygalacturonase-inhibiting protein is described by Toubartet al., Plant J. 2:367 (1992).

S. A developmental-arrestive protein produced in nature by a plant. Forexample, Logemann et al., Bio/Technology 10:305 (1992), have shown thattransgenic plants expressing the barley ribosome-inactivating gene havean increased resistance to fungal disease.

T. Genes involved in the Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) Responseand/or the pathogenesis-related genes. Briggs, S., Current Biology, 5(2)(1995).

U. Antifungal genes. See Cornelissen and Melchers, Plant Physiol.,101:709-712 (1993); Parijs et al., Planta 183:258-264 (1991) andBushnell et al., Can. J. of Plant Path. 20(2):137-149 (1998).

2. Genes That Confer Resistance to an Herbicide:

A. An herbicide that inhibits the growing point or meristem, such as animidazolinone or a sulfonylurea. Exemplary genes in this category codefor mutant ALS and AHAS enzyme as described, for example, by Lee et al.,EMBO J. 7:1241 (1988), and Miki et al., Theor. Appl. Genet. 80:449(1990), respectively.

B. Glyphosate (resistance conferred by mutant5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) and aroA genes,respectively) and other phosphono compounds such as glufosinate(phosphinothricin acetyl transferase (PAT) and Streptomyceshygroscopicus PAT bar genes), and pyridinoxy or phenoxy proprionic acidsand cyclohexones (ACCase inhibitor-encoding genes). See, for example,U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,835 to Shah, et al., which discloses the nucleotidesequence of a form of EPSP which can confer glyphosate resistance. A DNAmolecule encoding a mutant aroA gene can be obtained under ATCCaccession number 39256, and the nucleotide sequence of the mutant geneis disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,061 to Comai. European patentapplication No. 0 333 033 to Kumada et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,374to Goodman et al., disclose nucleotide sequences of glutamine synthetasegenes which confer resistance to herbicides such as L-phosphinothricin.The nucleotide sequence of a PAT gene is provided in Europeanapplication No. 0 242 246 to Leemans et al., DeGreef et al.,Bio/Technology 7:61 (1989), describe the production of transgenic plantsthat express chimeric bar genes coding for PAT activity. Exemplary ofgenes conferring resistance to phenoxy proprionic acids andcyclohexones, such as sethoxydim and haloxyfop are the Acc1-S1, Acc1-S2and Acc1-S3 genes described by Marshall et al., Theor. Appl. Genet.83:435 (1992).

C. An herbicide that inhibits photosynthesis, such as a triazine (psbAand gs+ genes) or a benzonitrile (nitrilase gene). Przibila et al.,Plant Cell 3:169 (1991), describe the transformation of Chlamydomonaswith plasmids encoding mutant psbA genes. Nucleotide sequences fornitrilase genes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,648 to Stalker, andDNA molecules containing these genes are available under ATCC AccessionNos. 53435, 67441, and 67442. Cloning and expression of DNA coding for aglutathione S-transferase is described by Hayes et al., Biochem. J.285:173 (1992).

D. Acetohydroxy acid synthase, which has been found to make plants thatexpress this enzyme resistant to multiple types of herbicides, has beenintroduced into a variety of plants. See Hattori et al., Mol. Gen.Genet. 246:419, 1995. Other genes that confer tolerance to herbicidesinclude a gene encoding a chimeric protein of rat cytochrome P4507A1 andyeast NADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (Shiota et al., PlantPhysiol., 106:17, 1994), genes for glutathione reductase and superoxidedismutase (Aono et al., Plant Cell Physiol. 36:1687, 1995), and genesfor various phosphotransferases (Datta et al., Plant Mol. Biol. 20:619,1992).

E. Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (protox) is necessary for the productionof chlorophyll, which is necessary for all plant survival. The protoxenzyme serves as the target for a variety of herbicidal compounds. Theseherbicides also inhibit growth of all the different species of plantspresent, causing their total destruction. The development of plantscontaining altered protox activity which are resistant to theseherbicides are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,288,306; 6,282,837;5,767,373; and international publication WO 01/12825.

3. Genes That Confer or Contribute to a Value-Added Trait, Such as:

A. Modified fatty acid metabolism, for example, by transforming a plantwith an antisense gene of stearyl-ACP desaturase to increase stearicacid content of the plant. See Knultzon et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.U.S.A. 89:2624 (1992).

B. Decreased phytate content—1) Introduction of a phytase-encoding genewould enhance breakdown of phytate, adding more free phosphate to thetransformed plant. For example, see Van Hartingsveldt et al., Gene127:87 (1993), for a disclosure of the nucleotide sequence of anAspergillus niger phytase gene. 2) A gene could be introduced thatreduced phytate content. In maize, this, for example, could beaccomplished, by cloning and then reintroducing DNA associated with thesingle allele which is responsible for maize mutants characterized bylow levels of phytic acid. See Raboy et al., Maydica 35:383 (1990).

C. Modified carbohydrate composition effected, for example, bytransforming plants with a gene coding for an enzyme that alters thebranching pattern of starch. See Shiroza et al., J. Bacteol. 170:810(1988) (nucleotide sequence of Streptococcus mutantsfructosyltransferase gene), Steinmetz et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 20:220(1985) (nucleotide sequence of Bacillus subtilis levansucrase gene), Penet al., Bio/Technology 10:292 (1992) (production of transgenic plantsthat express Bacillus licheniformis α-amylase), Elliot et al., PlantMolec. Biol. 21:515 (1993) (nucleotide sequences of tomato invertasegenes), Søgaard et al., J. Biol. Chem. 268:22480 (1993) (site-directedmutagenesis of barley α-amylase gene), and Fisher et al., Plant Physiol.102:1045 (1993) (maize endosperm starch branching enzyme 11).

D. Elevated oleic acid via FAD-2 gene modification and/or decreasedlinolenic acid via FAD-3 gene modification. See U.S. Pat. Nos.6,063,947; 6,323,392; and international publication WO 93/11245.

4. Genes that Control Male Sterility

A. Introduction of a deacetylase gene under the control of atapetum-specific promoter and with the application of the chemicalN-Ac-PPT. See international publication WO 01/29237.

B. Introduction of various stamen-specific promoters. See internationalpublications WO 92/13956 and WO 92/13957.

C. Introduction of the barnase and the barstar genes. See Paul et al.,Plant Mol. Biol. 19:611-622, 1992).

Methods for Canola Transformation

Numerous methods for plant transformation have been developed, includingbiological and physical plant transformation protocols. See, forexample, Miki et al., “Procedures for Introducing Foreign DNA intoPlants” in Methods in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, GlickB. R. and Thompson, J. E. Eds. (CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, 1993) pages67-88. In addition, expression vectors and in vitro culture methods forplant cell or tissue transformation and regeneration of plants areavailable. See, for example, Gruber et al., “Vectors for PlantTransformation” in Methods in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology,Glick B. R. and Thompson, J. E. Eds. (CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, 1993)pages 89-119.

A. Agrobacterium-mediated Transformation—One method for introducing anexpression vector into plants is based on the natural transformationsystem of Agrobacterium. See, for example, Horsch et al., Science227:1229 (1985). A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes are plant pathogenicsoil bacteria which genetically transform plant cells. The Ti and R1plasmids of A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes, respectively, carry genesresponsible for genetic transformation of the plant. See, for example,Kado, C. I., Crit. Rev. Plant Sci. 10:1 (1991). Descriptions ofAgrobacterium vector systems and methods for Agrobacterium-mediated genetransfer are provided by Gruber et al., supra, Miki et al., supra, andMoloney et al., Plant Cell Reports 8:238 (1989). See also, U.S. Pat. No.5,563,055 (Townsend and Thomas), issued Oct. 8, 1996.

B. Direct Gene Transfer—Several methods of plant transformation,collectively referred to as direct gene transfer, have been developed asan alternative to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. A generallyapplicable method of plant transformation is microprojectile-mediatedtransformation wherein DNA is carried on the surface of microprojectilesmeasuring 1 to 4 μm. The expression vector is introduced into planttissues with a biolistic device that accelerates the microprojectiles tospeeds of 300 to 600 m/s which is sufficient to penetrate plant cellwalls and membranes. Sanford et al., Part. Sci. Technol. 5:27 (1987),Sanford, J. C., Trends Biotech. 6:299 (1988), Klein et al.,Bio/Technology 6:559-563 (1988), Sanford, J. C., Physiol Plant 7:206(1990), Klein et al., Biotechnology 10:268 (1992). See also U.S. Pat.No. 5,015,580 (Christou, et al.), issued May 14, 1991; U.S. Pat. No.5,322,783 (Tomes, et al.), issued Jun. 21, 1994.

Another method for physical delivery of DNA to plants is sonication oftarget cells. Zhang et al., Bio/Technology 9:996 (1991). Alternatively,liposome and spheroplast fusion have been used to introduce expressionvectors into plants. Deshayes et al., EMBO J., 4:2731 (1985), Christouet al., Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84:3962 (1987). Direct uptake ofDNA into protoplasts using CaCl₂ precipitation, polyvinyl alcohol orpoly-L-ornithine have also been reported. Hain et al., Mol. Gen. Genet.199:161 (1985) and Draper et al., Plant Cell Physiol. 23:451 (1982).Electroporation of protoplasts and whole cells and tissues have alsobeen described. Donn et al., In Abstracts of VIIth InternationalCongress on Plant Cell and Tissue Culture IAPTC, A2-38, p 53 (1990);D'Halluin et al., Plant Cell 4:1495-1505 (1992) and Spencer et al.,Plant Mol. Biol. 24:51-61 (1994).

Following transformation of canola target tissues, expression of theabove-described selectable marker genes allows for preferentialselection of transformed cells, tissues and/or plants, usingregeneration and selection methods now well known in the art.

The foregoing methods for transformation would typically be used forproducing a transgenic variety. The transgenic variety could then becrossed, with another (non-transformed or transformed) variety, in orderto produce a new transgenic variety. Alternatively, a genetic traitwhich has been engineered into a particular canola line using theforegoing transformation techniques could be moved into another lineusing traditional backcrossing techniques that are well known in theplant breeding arts. For example, a backcrossing approach could be usedto move an engineered trait from a public, non-elite variety into anelite variety, or from a variety containing a foreign gene in its genomeinto a variety or varieties which do not contain that gene. As usedherein, “crossing” can refer to a simple X by Y cross, or the process ofbackcrossing, depending on the context.

Tissue Culture

Further production of the NQC02CNX21 cultivar can occur byself-pollination or by tissue culture and regeneration. Tissue cultureof various tissues of canola and regeneration of plants therefrom iswell-known and widely published. For example, the propagation of acanola cultivar by tissue culture is described in any of the following,but not limited to any of the following: Chuong et al., “A SimpleCulture Method for Brassica hypocotyls Protoplasts”, Plant Cell Reports4:4-6 (1985); Barsby, T. L., et al., “A Rapid and Efficient AlternativeProcedure for the Regeneration of Plants from Hypocotyl Protoplasts ofBrassica napus”, Plant Cell Reports, (Spring, 1996); Kartha, K., et al.,“In vitro Plant Formation from Stem Explants of Rape”, Physiol. Plant,31:217-220 (1974); Narasimhulu, S., et al., “Species Specific ShootRegeneration Response of Cotyledonary Explants of Brassicas”, Plant CellReports, (Spring 1988); Swanson, E., “Microspore Culture in Brassica”,Methods in Molecular Biology, Vol. 6, Chapter 17, p. 159 (1990). Thus,another aspect of this invention is to provide cells which upon growthand differentiation produce canola plants having the physiological andmorphological characteristics of canola variety NQC02CNX21.

As used herein, the term “tissue culture” indicates a compositioncomprising isolated cells of the same or a different type or acollection of such cells organized into parts of a plant. Exemplarytypes of tissue cultures are protoplasts, calli, plant clumps, and plantcells that can generate tissue culture that are intact in plants orparts of plants, such as embryos, pollen, flowers, seeds, pods, leaves,stems, roots, root tips, pistils, anthers, and the like. Means forpreparing and maintaining plant tissue culture are well known in theart. By way of example, a tissue culture comprising organs has been usedto produce regenerated plants. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,959,185, 5,973,234 and5,977,445, described certain techniques, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

Single Gene Converted (Conversion) Plants

When the term “canola plant” is used in the context of the presentinvention, this also includes any single gene conversions of thatvariety. The term “single gene converted plant” as used herein refers tothose canola plants which are developed by a plant breeding techniquecalled backcrossing wherein essentially all of the desired morphologicaland physiological characteristics of a variety are recovered in additionto the single gene transferred into the variety via the backcrossingtechnique. Backcrossing methods can be used with the present inventionto improve or introduce a characteristic into the variety. The term“backcrossing” as used herein refers to the repeated crossing of ahybrid progeny back to the recurrent parent, i.e., backcrossing 1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or more times to the recurrent parent. The parental canolaplant which contributes the gene for the desired characteristic istermed the “nonrecurrent” or “donor parent”. This terminology refers tothe fact that the nonrecurrent parent is used one time in the backcrossprotocol and therefore does not recur. The parental canola plant towhich the gene or genes from the nonrecurrent parent are transferred isknown as the recurrent parent as it is used for several rounds in thebackcrossing protocol (Poehlman & Sleper, 1994; Fehr, 1987). In atypical backcross protocol, the original variety of interest (recurrentparent) is crossed to a second variety (nonrecurrent parent) thatcarries the single gene of interest to be transferred. The resultingprogeny from this cross are then crossed again to the recurrent parentand the process is repeated until a canola plant is obtained whereinessentially all of the desired morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of the recurrent parent are recovered in the convertedplant, in addition to the single transferred gene from the nonrecurrentparent.

The selection of a suitable recurrent parent is an important step for asuccessful backcrossing procedure. The goal of a backcross protocol isto alter or substitute a single trait or characteristic in the originalvariety. To accomplish this, a single gene of the recurrent variety ismodified or substituted with the desired gene from the nonrecurrentparent, while retaining essentially all of the rest of the desiredgenetic, and therefore the desired physiological and morphological,constitution of the original variety. The choice of the particularnonrecurrent parent will depend on the purpose of the backcross. One ofthe major purposes is to add some commercially desirable, agronomicallyimportant trait to the plant. The exact backcrossing protocol willdepend on the characteristic or trait being altered to determine anappropriate testing protocol. Although backcrossing methods aresimplified when the characteristic being transferred is a dominantallele, a recessive allele may also be transferred. In this instance itmay be necessary to introduce a test of the progeny to determine if thedesired characteristic has been successfully transferred.

Many single gene traits have been identified that are not regularlyselected for in the development of a new variety but that can beimproved by backcrossing techniques. Single gene traits may or may notbe transgenic, examples of these traits include but are not limited to,male sterility, waxy starch, herbicide resistance, resistance forbacterial, fungal, or viral disease, insect resistance, male fertility,enhanced nutritional quality, industrial usage, yield stability andyield enhancement. These genes are generally inherited through thenucleus. Several of these single gene traits are described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,959,185, 5,973,234 and 5,977,445, the disclosures of which arespecifically hereby incorporated by reference.

Additional Breeding Methods

This invention also is directed to methods for producing a canola plantby crossing a first parent canola plant with a second parent canolaplant wherein the first or second parent canola plant is a canola plantof the variety NQC02CNX21. Further, both first and second parent canolaplants can come from the canola variety NQC02CNX21. Thus, any suchmethods using the canola variety NQC02CNX21 are part of this invention:selfing, backcrosses, hybrid production, crosses to populations, and thelike. All plants produced using canola variety NQC02CNX21 as a parentare within the scope of this invention, including those developed fromvarieties derived from canola variety NQC02CNX21. Advantageously, thecanola variety could be used in crosses with other, different, canolaplants to produce first generation (F₁) canola hybrid seeds and plantswith superior characteristics. The variety of the invention can also beused for transformation where exogenous genes are introduced andexpressed by the variety of the invention. Genetic variants createdeither through traditional breeding methods using variety NQC02CNX21 orthrough transformation of NQC02CNX21 by any of a number of protocolsknown to those of skill in the art are intended to be within the scopeof this invention.

The following describes breeding methods that may be used with canolacultivar NQC02CNX21 in the development of further canola plants. Onesuch embodiment is a method for developing a cultivar NQC02CNX21 progenycanola plant in a canola plant breeding program comprising: obtainingthe canola plant, or a part thereof, of cultivar NQC02CNX21 utilizingsaid plant or plant part as a source of breeding material and selectinga canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 progeny plant with molecular markers incommon with cultivar NQC02CNX21 and/or with morphological and/orphysiological characteristics selected from the characteristics listedin Tables 1 or 2. Breeding steps that may be used in the canola plantbreeding program include pedigree breeding, backcrossing, mutationbreeding, and recurrent selection. In conjunction with these steps,techniques such as RFLP-enhanced selection, genetic marker enhancedselection (for example SSR markers) and the making of double haploidsmay be utilized.

Another method involves producing a population of canola cultivarNQC02CNX21 progeny canola plants, comprising crossing cultivarNQC02CNX21 with another canola plant, thereby producing a population ofcanola plants, which, on average, derive 50% of their alleles fromcanola cultivar NQC02CNX21. A plant of this population may be selectedand repeatedly selfed or sibbed with a canola cultivar resulting fromthese successive filial generations. One embodiment of this invention isthe canola cultivar produced by this method and that has obtained atleast 50% of its alleles from canola cultivar NQC02CNX21.

One of ordinary skill in the art of plant breeding would know how toevaluate the traits of two plant varieties to determine if there is nosignificant difference between the two traits expressed by thosevarieties. For example, see Fehr and Walt, Principles of CultivarDevelopment, p 261-286 (1987). Thus the invention includes canolacultivar NQC02CNX21 progeny canola plants comprising a combination of atleast two cultivar NQC02CNX21 traits selected from the group consistingof those listed in Tables 1 and 2 or the cultivar NQC02CNX21 combinationof traits listed in the Summary of the Invention, so that said progenycanola plant is not significantly different for said traits than canolacultivar NQC02CNX21 as determined at the 5% significance level whengrown in the same environmental conditions. Using techniques describedherein, molecular markers may be used to identify said progeny plant asa canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 progeny plant. Mean trait values may beused to determine whether trait differences are significant, andpreferably the traits are measured on plants grown under the sameenvironmental conditions. Once such a variety is developed its value issubstantial since it is important to advance the germplasm base as awhole in order to maintain or improve traits such as yield, diseaseresistance, pest resistance, and plant performance in extremeenvironmental conditions.

Progeny of canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 may also be characterized throughtheir filial relationship with canola cultivar NQC02CNX21, as forexample, being within a certain number of breeding crosses of canolacultivar NQC02CNX21. A breeding cross is a cross made to introduce newgenetics into the progeny, and is distinguished from a cross, such as aself or a sib cross, made to select among existing genetic alleles. Thelower the number of breeding crosses in the pedigree, the closer therelationship between canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 and its progeny. Forexample, progeny produced by the methods described herein may be within1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 breeding crosses of canola cultivar NQC02CNX21.

As used herein, the term “plant” includes plant cells, plantprotoplasts, plant cell tissue cultures from which canola plants can beregenerated and plant cells that are intact in plants or parts ofplants, such as embryos, pollen, ovules, flowers, leaves, roots, roottips, anthers, cotyledons, hypocotyls, stems, pistils, and the like.

Tables

In Table 2 that follows, the tolerance to Blackleg disease(Leptosphaeria maculans) are compared to other varieties of commercialcanolas of similar maturity. In the table, column 1 shows the variety;columns 2 and 3 are the Blackleg disease rating for 2002 and 2003.Blackleg disease ratings are based on a 1-5 scale of 1 being resistantand 5 being susceptible. Column 4 lists the weighted average; column 5gives the percent of Defender ratings; and column 6 gives the overallresistance rating using the percent of Defender value as a guideline.TABLE 2 BLACKLEG DISEASE Variety 2002 2003 Wt. Avg. % of Defender RatingQ2 2.0 1.36 1.50 83 MR Defender 1.8 1.81 1.80 100 MR A.C. Excel 2.3 2.152.20 121 MS Westar 2.9 3.40 3.30 182 S NQC02CNX21 0.95 1.31 1.01 56 R #Trials 1 4 5 5 5

In Table 3 that follows, the tolerance to White Rust (Albugo candida) iscompared to other varieties of commercial canolas of similar maturity.In the Table, column 1 shows the variety and column 2 shows thepercentage of plants infected by Race 7V of the disease. TABLE 3 PercentInfection with Race 7V Variety Race 7V Infection (%) Horizon 100 Tobin99 Commercial Brown Mustard 0 NQC02CNX21 1

In Table 4 that follows, the tolerance to White Rust (Albugo candida) iscompared to other varieties of commercial canolas of similar maturity.In the Table, column 1 shows the variety and column 2 shows thepercentage of plants infected by Race 2V of the disease. TABLE 4 PercentInfection with Race 2V Variety Race 2V Infection (%) Horizon 0 Cutlass97 Commercial Brown Mustard 100 NQC02CNX21 0

In Table 5 that follows, the yield for the 2002-2003 long season zone iscompared to other varieties of commercial canolas of similar maturity.In the table, column 1 shows the variety; column 2 lists the mean yieldin kilograms per hectare. Column gives the percent as compared toLoLinda yield. TABLE 5 YIELD (kg/Ha) 2002-2003 Long Season Zone VarietyMean Yield % of LoLinda 46A65 2234 123 Q2 2247 124 Ck. Avg 2240 123LoLinda 1817 100 NQC02CNX21 2535 140 CV (%) 9.0

In Table 6 that follows, the yield for the 2002-2003 mid season zone iscompared to other varieties of commercial canolas of similar maturity.In the table, column 1 shows the variety; column 2 lists the mean yieldin kilograms per hectare. Column gives the percent as compared toLoLinda yield. TABLE 6 YIELD (kg/Ha) 2002-2003 Mid Season Zone VarietyMean Yield % of LoLinda 46A65 2226 118 Q2 2099 111 Ck. Avg 2163 115LoLinda 1886 100 NQC02CNX21 2561 136 CV (%) 11

In Table 7 that follows, canola variety NQC02CNX21 is compared to othervarieties of commercial canolas of similar maturity for several traits.Column 1 shows the variety being compared; column 2 gives the days toflower; column 3 shows the days to maturity; column 4 lists the heightin centimeters and column 5 shows the lodging score based on 1-5, 1being good (upright plants) and 5 being poor (plant fallen over). TABLE7 COMPARISON OF TRAITS - 2002 Days Lodging Variety to Flower Days toMaturity Height (cm) (1-5) 46A65 43.6 89.4 96 2.2 Q2 46.2 89.8 99 2.1Ck. Avg 44.9 89.6 98 2.2 LoLinda 45.9 90.7 102 1.8 NQC02CNX21 47.7 94.6110 1.9 # Trials 16 16 17 16

In Table 8 that follows, canola variety NQC02CNX21 is compared to othervarieties of commercial canolas of similar maturity for several traits.Column 1 shows the variety being compared; column 2 gives the Oil % D.B.(oil content expressed as a weight percent corrected for moisture);column 3 shows the Protein (% meal); column 4 lists the totalglucosinolates (μm/g seed at 8.5% moisture) and column 5 shows thechlorophyll (kg at 8.5% moisture). TABLE 8 COMPARISON OF TRAITS - 2002Total Glucosinolates Chlorophyll Oil (% Protein μm/g seed @ mg/kgVariety D.B.) (% meal) 8.5% moisture @ 8.5% moisture 46A65 46.2 48.315.8 Q2 45.1 48.3 12.6 Ck. Avg 45.7 48.3 14.2 LoLinda 43.9 48.1NQC02CNX21 45.3 48.7 9.4 18.9 # Trials 15 15 11 8

In Table 9 that follows, the C18 oil profile of canola varietyNQC02CNX21 is compared to other varieties of commercial canolas ofsimilar maturity. In the Table, column 1 shows the variety, columns 2-4show the percentage of C18:1, C18:2, and C18:3 respectively, whilecolumn 5 shows the total saturated fatty acid. TABLE 9 C18 and TotalSaturated Fatty Acid Profile Variety C18:1 C18:2 C18:3 TOTSAT 46A6564.56 18.45 7.41 6.90 Q2 63.96 17.84 8.18 7.09 Check 64.26 18.15 7.807.00 LoLinda 64.55 23.29 2.80 6.63 NQC02CNX21 71.33 17.89 1.96 6.49

Table 10 that follows provides the FAME analysis for canola cultivarNQC02CNX21. In the Table, column 1 shows the type of fat while column 2shows the percent of total oil of each type of fat found in thecultivar. TABLE 10 FAME Analysis C12:0 0.01 C14:0 0.05 C16:0 3.63 C16:10.25 C18:0 1.31 C18:1 72.21 C18:2 17.98 C18:3 1.78 C20:0 0.49 C20:1 1.55C20:2 0.08 C22:0 0.31 C22:1 nd C24:0 0.13 C24:1 0.24 TOTSAT 5.92

Deposit Information

A deposit of the Dow AgroSciences LLC canola cultivar NQC02CNX21disclosed above and recited in the appended claims has been made withthe American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), 10801 University Boulevard,Manassas, Va. 20110. The date of deposit was Mar. 25, 2005. The depositof 2,500 seeds was taken from the same deposit maintained by DowAgroSciences Plant Genetics and Biotech. since prior to the filing dateof this application. All restrictions upon the deposit have beenremoved, and the deposit is intended to meet all of the requirements of37 C.F.R. §1.801-1.809. The ATCC accession number is PTA-6644. Thedeposit will be maintained in the depository for a period of 30 years,or 5 years after the last request, or for the effective life of thepatent, whichever is longer, and will be replaced as necessary duringthat period.

While a number of exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussedabove, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications,permutations, additions and sub-combinations thereof. It is thereforeintended that the following appended claims and claims hereafterintroduced are interpreted to include all such modifications,permutations, additions and sub-combinations as are within their truespirit and scope.

1. A seed of canola cultivar designated NQC02CNX21, wherein arepresentative sample of seed of said cultivar was deposited under ATCCAccession No. PTA-6644.
 2. A canola plant, or a part thereof, producedby growing the seed of claim
 1. 3. A tissue culture of cells producedfrom the plant of claim 2, wherein said cells of the tissue culture areproduced from a plant part selected from the group consisting of leaves,pollen, embryos, cotyledons, hypocotyl, meristematic cells, roots, roottips, anthers, pistils, flowers, stems and pods.
 4. A protoplastproduced from the plant of claim
 2. 5. A protoplast produced from thetissue culture of claim
 3. 6. A canola plant regenerated from the tissueculture of claim 3, wherein the plant has all the morphological andphysiological characteristics of cultivar NQC02CNX21.
 7. A method forproducing an F₁ hybrid canola seed wherein the method comprises crossingthe plant of claim 2 with a different canola plant and harvesting theresultant F₁ hybrid canola seed.
 8. A hybrid canola seed produced by themethod of claim
 7. 9. A hybrid canola plant, or a part thereof, producedby growing said hybrid seed of claim
 8. 10. A method of producing acanola seed wherein the method comprises growing said hybrid canolaplant of claim 9 and harvesting the resultant seed.
 11. A method forproducing a male sterile canola plant wherein the method comprisestransforming the canola plant of claim 2 with a nucleic acid moleculethat confers male sterility.
 12. A male sterile canola plant produced bythe method of claim
 11. 13. A method of producing an herbicide resistantcanola plant wherein the method comprises transforming the canola plantof claim 2 with a transgene, wherein the transgene confers resistance toan herbicide selected from the group consisting of imidazolinone,sulfonylurea, glyphosate, glufosinate, L-phosphinothricin, triazine andbenzonitrile.
 14. An herbicide resistant canola plant produced by themethod of claim
 13. 15. A method of producing an insect resistant canolaplant wherein the method comprises transforming the canola plant ofclaim 2 with a transgene that confers insect resistance.
 16. An insectresistant canola plant produced by the method of claim
 15. 17. Thecanola plant of claim 16, wherein the transgene encodes a Bacillusthuringiensis endotoxin.
 18. A method of producing a disease resistantcanola plant wherein the method comprises transforming the canola plantof claim 2 with a transgene that confers disease resistance.
 19. Adisease resistant canola plant produced by the method of claim
 18. 20. Amethod of producing a canola plant with modified fatty acid metabolismor modified carbohydrate metabolism wherein the method comprisestransforming the canola plant of claim 2 with a transgene encoding aprotein selected from the group consisting of fructosyltransferase,levansucrase, α-amylase, invertase and starch branching enzyme orencoding an antisense of stearyl-ACP desaturase.
 21. A canola planthaving modified fatty acid metabolism or modified carbohydratemetabolism produced by the method of claim
 20. 22. A canola plant, orpart thereof, having all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of the cultivar NQC02CNX21, wherein a representativesample of seed of said cultivar was deposited under ATCC Accession No.PTA-6644.
 23. A method of introducing a desired trait into canolacultivar NQC02CNX21 wherein the method comprises: (a) crossing aNQC02CNX21 plant, wherein a representative sample of seed was depositedunder ATCC Accession No. PTA-6644, with a plant of another canolacultivar that comprises a desired trait to produce progeny plants,wherein the desired trait is selected from the group consisting of malesterility, herbicide resistance, insect resistance, and resistance tobacterial disease, fungal disease or viral disease; (b) selecting one ormore progeny plants that have the desired trait to produce selectedprogeny plants; (c) crossing the selected progeny plants with theNQC02CNX21 plants to produce backcross progeny plants; (d) selecting forbackcross progeny plants that have the desired trait and physiologicaland morphological characteristics of canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 toproduce selected backcross progeny plants; and (e) repeating steps (c)and (d) three or more times in succession to produce selected fourth orhigher backcross progeny plants that comprise the desired trait and allof the physiological and morphological characteristics of canolacultivar NQC02CNX21 as listed in Table
 1. 24. A canola plant produced bythe method of claim 23, wherein the plant has the desired trait and allof the physiological and morphological characteristics of canolacultivar NQC02CNX21 as listed in Table
 1. 25. The canola plant of claim24, wherein the desired trait is herbicide resistance and the resistanceis conferred to an herbicide selected from the group consisting ofimidazolinone, sulfonylurea, glyphosate, glufosinate,L-phosphinothricin, triazine and benzonitrile.
 26. The canola plant ofclaim 24, wherein the desired trait is insect resistance and the insectresistance is conferred by a transgene encoding a Bacillus thuringiensisendotoxin.
 27. The canola plant of claim 24, wherein the desired traitis male sterility and the trait is conferred by a nucleic acid moleculethat confers male sterility.
 28. A method of modifying fatty acidmetabolism or modifying carbohydrate metabolism of canola cultivarNQC02CNX21 wherein the method comprises: (a) crossing a NQC02CNX21plant, wherein a representative sample of seed was deposited under ATCCAccession No. PTA-6644, with a plant of another canola cultivar toproduce progeny plants that comprise a nucleic acid molecule encoding anenzyme selected from the group consisting of phytase,fructosyltransferase, levansucrase, α-amylase, invertase and starchbranching enzyme or encoding an antisense of stearyl-ACP desaturase; (b)selecting one or more progeny plants that have said nucleic acidmolecule to produce selected progeny plants; (c) crossing the selectedprogeny plants with the NQC02CNX21 plants to produce backcross progenyplants; (d) selecting for backcross progeny plants that have saidnucleic acid molecule and the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of canola cultivar NQC02CNX21 to produce selectedbackcross progeny plants; and (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) three ormore times in succession to produce selected fourth or higher backcrossprogeny plants that comprise said nucleic acid molecule and have all ofthe physiological and morphological characteristics of canola cultivarNQC02CNX21 as listed in Table
 1. 29. A canola plant produced by themethod of claim 28, wherein the plant has the nucleic acid molecule andall of the physiological and morphological characteristics of canolacultivar NQC02CNX21 as listed in Table
 1. 30. A canola cultivarcomprising imidazolinone resistance and oleic acid content of greaterthan 70%.
 31. The canola cultivar of claim 30 further comprising lessthan 3% linolenic acid.
 32. The canola cultivar of claim 30 furthercomprising blackleg (Leptosphaeria maculans) resistance.
 33. A canolahybrid comprising imidazolinone resistance and oleic acid content ofgreater than 70%.
 34. The canola hybrid of claim 33 further comprisingless than 3% linolenic acid.
 35. The canola hybrid of claim 33 furthercomprising blackleg (Leptosphaeria maculans) resistance.
 36. A method ofproducing a male sterile canola plant wherein the method comprisescrossing the canola plant of claim 2 with a male sterile canola plantand harvesting the resultant seed.